Hungary and Russia will join forces to encourage businesses to bid for projects in other countries

Minister Szijjártó said that the European sanctions against Russia have “failed both from political and economic aspects”. Those sanctions impact not only Russia but Europe, too, and “it would be best to remove them”

Hungary and Russia will encourage businesses to bid jointly for projects in other countries, Hungary's foreign minister has said.

Péter Szijjártó, minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the move will build an “even closer” cooperation in heavy industry projects with special regard to “technology-intensive areas."

The minister announced the plans following talks with Denis Manturov, Russia’s minister of trade and industry, in Budapest today.

As an example, the minister mentioned a railway tender in Egypt, in which Hungarian and Russian companies have submitted a competitive bid.

Minister Szijjártó said that Hungary’s Dunaferr offered “huge opportunities”. He argued that the Russian partner invested some 20 million euros in the steel works last year, while this year’s Russian investment could even exceed that amount. “Dunaferr’s continued operation and development is ensured,” he said.

Minister Szijjártó also said that the European sanctions against Russia have “failed both from political and economic aspects”. Those sanctions impact not only Russia but Europe, too, and “it would be best to remove them”, he insisted. Due to the sanctions, Hungary’s exports to Russia and the former Soviet states had dropped by 6.7 billion USD since 2013.

Hungary and Russia will also continue their joint space research programs, with the Hungarian government contributing 200 million HUF to that budget, Minister Szijjártó said.

He also reported that the Hungarian government had decided to set aside 2.4 billion HUF to restore four Russian Orthodox churches in Hungary.